Hat and the manufacture thereof



May 11, 1937] E. SlEGE IL 2,080,382

HAT AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF FiledNov. 16, 1936 Patented May 11, 1937 a 2,080,382 HAT, AND ma ,MANUFACTURE THEREOF Earl Siege], Chicago, Ill., assignor to Grand Trimmed Hat Mfg. 00., Chicago, 111., a corpo- :ration of Illinois Application November 16, 1936, Serial No. 111,044

- 1 Claim. (c1. 2-1s2) Thisinvention relates to hats and the manufacture thereof, and moreparticularly, to hats of the type usually worn by women.

Womens type hats are fabricated fromyarious materials such as felt, straw, fabric, paper and various compositions, and are constructed in devious ways. mercial construction forms a hat from what is known asa body, which iscomposed of a single piece of material of substantiallycircular cross section, throughout its height. For economy in shipment in such bodies to manufacturers, they are desirably collapsed or rolled for convenience in packing As a general rule, most women purchase a number of hats during the year, and the matter of the cost'of production has long been a matter of concern to this industry. Hats as produced at the present time, necessitate a substantial investment in equipment, and if the hats are produced mainly by hand, the cost of same frequently results in a restricted market outlet.

The present invention therefore, has for one of its main objects, the provision of a novel, hat construction, and an improved novel method of producing same,,and which may, at the same time, be economically manufactured.

hat construction which permits using smaller bodies of single piece of material than customarily used, thus resulting in a saving of material.

Still another object of this invention resides in a novel hat construction andmethod of producing the same, which permits obtaining novel style effects which were not heretofore available;

And a still further object of this invention isto produce an improved hat construction and method of manufacturing the same, which permits a. substantial saving in labor and equipment, and which, at the same time, eliminates a substantial amount of hand work generally necessary in hat construction.

With the foregoingand other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the inventionconsists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that various'ohanges in the One, extensively used. comform, proportion, size and minor details of the construction may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, in which the same Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a sweat band in process of being secured around the head opening; n

Fig. 4 shows the hat body in collapsed form placed over a form; i

Fig. 5 shows the body with the brim formed with certain novel style effects.

Referring now to the drawing more specifical:

1y by characters of reference, the hat body is generally indicated by reference character Ill,

which isof a common type now used commercially and known in the tradeas the (hood) style. The saidbo'dy, it will beunderstood has been selected for purpose of illustration, and may be formed. of various materials, such as felt, fabric, straw, paper or various compositions. The said body may also assume, instead of the shape illustrated, other shapes, such for example, as the (capeline) style, which is also commonly used, and which differs from the (hood) style, in that it is provided with a relatively distinctly formed brim. This type of body also lends itself equally well for use, in accordance with the present invention.

, The wall of the crown portion, indicated at H of the hat body, is formedwith a head opening I2, which preferably, though not essentially, is of oval conformation and is located so that the upper marginal edge thereof is in close proximity to the top of the crown. A suitable sweat band H of suitable material is secured to said wall of the crown surrounding the said head opening l2.

After the completion of the formation of the head opening in the side of the crown, the next step in my improved process is to collapse the hat body to substantially the position shown in Fig. 4, and to place the same over a suitable form l5, having a curved dome portion l6, which extends through the head opening l2, as seen in the drawing for assisting in rounding out the headform in the opposite wall of the crown. In

this'manner, the head portion is formed, as indi-- cated at I1, which portion, it will be noted, is provided with substantially no brim at the rear thereof, and with a relatively large double walled 5 brim or visor at the forward end thereof. In

practice, the said brim will assume a substantially fan-like shape and will be of probably less than 120 arcuate extent.

The two layers of material, l9 and20, constituting the brim, produce what is known-in the trade as a cushion brim, and the edges thereof may, if desired, be secured or permitted to remain free. the latter being known in the trade as an open cushion brim, and the former as a closed cushion brim. While the hat body is on the form l5, it may be shaped to adesired style and held in place by suitable pins, and after the complete hat has been shaped, it may be pressed in said shape, the'pins removed, and the hat construction completed. I I

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated some of the style effects that may be'given to the portions l9 and 20 for producing the desired ornamental effects from the material of thebody itself. Thus, as shown in said figure, the lower portion 59 is provided with a number of plaits 2| whereas the upper portion 20 may be provided with a relatively large plait, 22, formed adjacent its middle. The brim portion, l8, may also be provided with the plaits 23, as shown in Fig. 5 in one edge thereof, adjacent the crown portion ll. For a finished appearance, the outer wall 'of the crown surrounding the head opening l2, may have a band or ribbon, 24, situated thereto, as shown in Fig.5.

It will be understood that the style effect produced by the plaiting illustrated in Fig. ismerer ly illustrative of what may be done towards producing desired ornamentation or desired style effects, as obviously the portions l9 and 20 may be worked upon to produce many different varieties of plaiting, thereby varying the efiect of the 50 finished hat.

It should be readilyunderstood that this novel method of constructing the hat readily lends itself to-the production of a large variety of novel style effects, such as forward trend; forward and upward trend; roll-off the face; beret; visor brim effect; flange cushion. In the formation of these various styles the brim may be either of the open or closed cushion type, and in either case, it may be novelly shaped or formed and draped to produce style effects that have never heretofore been attained. If desired, various other forms of ornamentation may be added to the finished hat, such as ribbons, flowers, feathers, and various decorative elements. However, such additional decoration, in most instances, will be unnecessary, as the material from the body itself may be readily and effectively utilized for producing the necessary decorative or ornamental effect for the finished product.

Hats constructed in accordance with this invention, it will be noted, require a reduced quantity of material, less labor, and results in a novel and improved hat construction that is capable of economical manufacture, while at the same time resultingin a finely finished product.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and method of construction, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing, without further description, and should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are, nevertheless, capable of 'Wide variation within the pur- View of my invention as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

An improved method of manufacturing hats formed from a hat body having side walls, a closed end and an opposite open end, which comprises forming a head opening in the side wall adjacent the closed end, folding the body together and placing on a form which extends into said opening so as to form a crown from the side wall disposed opposite said opening, said body being so folded that the corresponding wall portions betion to constitute a brim, and imparting desired configuration or ornamentation to said brim portion of the body.

' EARL SIEGEL.

low said opening will be in super-imposed rela- 

